The present invention relates to the mass-slaughtering of hogs and more particularly, to the operations of preparation that follow the slaughtering.
The invention further relates, to the more specific preparation step which consists, after slaughtering and evisceration, in pulling off or loosening the two layers or strips of fat lining the inside faces of the hog sides, these deposits of fat being normally called belly strips.
These belly strips can be considered as by-products which are not directly included in food consumption. Generally, these sub-products find an application in industry, and in particular, in the cosmetics industry.
The belly strips have that particular characteristic that their preserving is essentially dependent on the process used for pulling them off from the hog carcass. It has been found that these belly strips had to be pulled off, at least partly, immediately after evisceration and before cooling, so that they only need to be severed off in those parts where they are still attached to the sides of the hog, in order to obtain a strip of fat in the best conditions of preservation.